1. Project title
Digital Collaboratory on Cultural-Historical Dendrochronology in the Low Countries (DCCD)
2. Summary
In the past, wood was one of the most important building materials in the Netherlands. Wood from the past is preserved in the soil archive (archaeological and natural sites), under water (ships), in the built environment (buildings), and in objects (art and furniture). Its patterns of annually varying ring widths can be read as accurate chronological records of biological, geological and climate processes in the past and are an important source of information about our former dealings with this material. Using tree-ring patterns, we can determine the exact year that trees were cut down, the region and type of forest or woodland where the trees grew, the forest management and harvesting selections practiced at the time, the final geographical distribution of timber from single ‘shipments’ (trade and recycling), and aspects of the hydrology and weather conditions during the life span of the trees. Tree-ring patterns also tell us how individual trees were sectioned and their segments were put to use. Moreover, measurements of ring patterns are the building blocks of the reference chronologies used for dendrochronological dating. Dendrochronological data are therefore an essential and unique source of information about chronology, the social economy, cultural landscape, climate, forest management and wood technology. In order to study these topics, we need to combine existing dendrochronological data and knowledge from archaeology, architectural history, art history and natural-historical research. This combination is made possible by the DCCD, which is an accessible Trusted Digital Repository of cultural and natural-historical dendrochronological data for the Low Countries, designed with the specific purpose of developing and refining historical knowledge using information in and inferred from these data. The DCCD combines all separate existing tree-ring archives on archaeology, the natural and cultural landscape, architectural history and art history in the Low Countries, based on the principle of do ut des (‘I give that you may give’). It contains dendrochronological measurement series and their descriptive and interpretative metadata, conforming to international digital archiving standards that are developed within the project. Once the DCCD is set up, the participants use it to store newly generated data. The DCCD is linked to, and able to frequently harvest, relevant tree-ring archives abroad and digital archives in the Netherlands containing related cultural and natural data. Regarding the management and publication of government-funded research, the DCCD is an answer to an (inter)national lack of provisions for digital data storage and accessibility in cultural dendrochronology. The proposed repository is DANS-proof. When the project is finished, the DCCD contains 30,000 measurement series and metadata from over 20,000 trees that grew between 6000 BC and present, with the emphasis on the past 2,000 years.
3. Main applicant
Dr. Esther Jansma
National Service for Archaeology, Cultural Landscape and Built Heritage (RACM/Min. OCW)
Foundation Netherlands Centre for Dendrochronology RING (director)
PO Box 1600
NL-3800 BP Amersfoort
4. Composition of the DCCD research group
Host institution
National Service for Archaeology, Cultural Landscape and Built Heritage (RACM/Min. OCW)
PO Box 1600
NL-3800 BP Amersfoort
Designated Contact
Dr. Esther Jansma
National Service for Archaeology, Cultural Landscape and Built Heritage (RACM/Min. OCW)
PO Box 1600
NL-3800 BP Amersfoort
Phone: +31 (0) 33 42 27 513 / + 31 (0) 6 25 00 00 55
E-mail:
Principal applicants
Name / Organisation / ExpertiseProf.dr. J. Bazelmans / RACM (director of Research)
and Free University (VU), Faculty of Arts / Archaeological heritage
management
R.J.W.M. Gruben / BAAC bv (director) / Cultural heritage; commercial sector
Prof.dr. H. Kars / Free University, Faculty of Geosciences, Institute for Bio- and Geoarchaeology (director) / Bio- and geoarchaeology
Prof.dr. D.J. de Vries / RACM and LeidenUniversity, Faculty of Arts / Building history, timber trade
Prof.dr. B. van der
Zwaan / UtrechtUniversity, Faculty of Geosciences (dean) / Geosciences
Research group and advisory board: see appendix 1
The research group, whose members contributed significantly during the preparation of this proposal, includes all dendrochronologists working in the Low Countries, with expertises such as architectural history, art research, ship’s archaeology, historical forest management, ecology, wood biology and contemporary forestry, as well as leading scientists in the fields of archaeology, building history, art history, palaeo- and landscape ecology andformer climate, and experts on digital infrastructure. The dendrochronological aspects of the project will be supervised by an international advisory board, whose members have been selected because of their expertise in the field of cultural-historical research, their national and international networks in the field of academic, commercial and government-supported dendrochronology, and their participation in the preparation of this proposal. In case of funding, the board will be strategically extended. See appendix 1 for an overview.
5. Is the application the result of a start-up grant (startsubsidy) or a renewed application?
This application is the result of start-up grant 380-60-004 (Dec. 2006 – Aug. 2007).
6. Period of funding
1 May 2008 – 31 August 2010.
7. DCCD research plan and investment
In the past, wood was one of the most important building materials in the Netherlands. Wood from the past is preserved in the soil archive (archaeological and natural sites, dating back to 6000 BC), under water (ships, historical period, mainly dating after AD 1600), in the built environment (buildings, mainly dating after AD 1200), and in objects (art and furniture, mainly dating after AD 1500). The patterns of annually varying ring-widths in wood can be used to refine our cultural-historical knowledge. Tree-ring patterns of oak and many other species can be dated to the year, using dated reference chronologies of average annual tree growth. In this way we can establish the cutting date of timber and date the creation of wooden objects.And when we shift our attention from single objects to larger collections of tree-ring data from wider regions and longer time intervals, wider issues can be addressed, such as changing trade relationships (based on a refined determination of the geographical origin of timber using upgraded and newly developed local average tree-ring chronologies); the transport of wood (based on physical traces on timbers of rafting that are documented in the metadata and on the statistical clustering of measurement series from rafted woods in order to identify individual rafts); wood-technological choices (based on the analysis of growth-pattern characteristics that result from well-understood site characteristics such as drainage (hydrology) and type of forest or woodland); the ritual use of wood (based on studies of the geographical and chronological distribution of objects that express a non-economic use of wood); former conjuncture (based on the analysis of the intensity of activities relating to forestry and building as expressed in the chronological distribution of felling dates in relation to historical data on wars, plagues and weather anomalies); former climate and the hydrological regime (based on the large-scale analysis of pointer years and other climate indicators in clusters of tree-ring data with a known origin); and forest management (based on analysis of the age structure of former stands and on the simultaneous occurrence of death dates and growth releases in clustered sets of measurement series).See appendix 2 for a further discussion of these possibilities.
Large data sets are needed to study these issues. To this end, in 2003the RACM and the RING Foundation started the organization of their dendrochronological data (cultural and natural sites)in a comprehensive digital archive. Analysis of the integratedcollection already has led to new insights and important corrections of prevailing views on wood use during the Roman Period. First, using comparisons of the growth patterns of oak timbers used by the Romans with the patterns in oak trunks deposited naturally and without human interference (forest remains preserved in Dutch former bogs), it was found that the Romans used locally grown trees for their building activities in the Netherlands until far into the Second Century (Visser 2005). This finding falsifiesthe accepted hypothesisaccording to which the Romans built and maintained their 2nd century infrastructure with oak brought in from current Germany. Second, it was found that Roman flat-bottomed barges excavated in the Netherlands were built from oaks that actually grew in the Netherlands, which means that the ship’s wharves also must have been located here (Vorst 2005; Jansma 2007a; Jansma 2007b). This finding overthrows the accepted hypothesis that ships of this type were built higher upstream along the RhineRiver in current Germany. And third, it was found that in the Netherlands at the end of the First Century the Romans built flat-bottomed barges without considering wood-technological aspects, whereas in the Second Century the Romans had an established system for ship building, in which even the type of oak was selected in view of its function in the ship’s construction (mechanical characteristics, related to growth location; Vorst 2005; Jansma 2007b). This technological development in ship building had not been identified earlier and has enabled archaeologists to refine the existing typology of Roman barges.The research of Roman ship building and wood use recently received support of NWO/GW (programme Arts and crafts in Roman shipbuilding; contract number PR-06-41, 2007-2011).
Although the Roman Period is well represented in the archive of RACM and RING, the archive is far from complete. First, certain types of contextual and descriptive metadata are lacking (e.g., coordinates and observations on wood morphology and technology). Second, the archiveis not linked to other existing dendrochronological archives based on our cultural heritage, which are managed at various other laboratories in the Netherlands and abroad (Belgium, Germany; table 1) and which mainly contain data from the past 1,000 years. In order to study the issues outlined above, we need to upgrade the current RACM/RING archive and to combine it with its (upgraded) sister archives. To this end we propose to develop a digital facility termed DCCD, which contains all dendrochronological archives on our cultural heritage and which organizes the descriptive and interpretative metadata according to the larger research questions. After its completion, the proposed facility is used by participating dendrochronologists for all furtherdata management (storage of new data, editing existing interpretative metadata). The DCCD is easilyaccessible for querying and downloading through the Internet, while also offeringdata owners the possibility to control the access to specific data (authorization procedures, level-defined access). The DCCD also serves a research-political purpose. Due to commercial research and a lack of archiving standards in cultural dendrochronology many data end up outside any program of preservation and publicity of government-funded knowledge.The process of shaping the DCCD will lead to the formulation of much-needed archiving standards, while the DCCD itself will safeguard the data and will make, and keep, them available for future research. For this reason the plans for the DCCD have been designed in close collaboration with Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS), the national organization in the Netherlandsresponsible for storing and providing permanent access to research data from the Humanities and Social Sciences.
The DCCD contains cultural and natural dendrochronological data and metadata relevant to cultural and related interdisciplinary studies of the past in the Low Counties and (with imported wood) beyond. After its completion it contains 30,000 measurement series and their metadata, representing over 20,000 pieces of wood dating from 6000 BC to the present, which now are managed at different locations (table 1). These series for a large part date to the past 2,000 years. Users are able to search for and extract data using search modules designed with the important research questions in mind. Users outside of dendrochronology are able to receive fast overviews of dendrochronological research. In addition, the DCCD contains modules designed for educational purposes, with a bearing on dendrochronological sampling and measuring, dendrochronological dating and other research, and which include example data sets and chronologies. After the end of the project, the content of the DCCD will continue to grow because the participating laboratories will produce new data and new participants will join the DCCD.
We have found the support from the dendrochronological community in the Low Countries to be a hundred percent.In addition, the international dendrochronological community has expressed a keen interest in participation and members of this community have in fact joined the projects network in an advisory board in order to solidify its presence and significance in international endeavours of research and archiving. The reason is that although there exists a variety of digital archives accessible via the Internet, these archives have all been designed for contemporary (non-cultural) studies or mere storage purposes and are unsuited for the purposes of cultural-historical research outlined in this proposal (see the evaluation of these archives in appendix 3). The DCCD will set much needed international digital standards for archiving and data management in cultural dendrochronology.Through the DCCD, the collaboration within and between the cultural historical and environmental disciplines and dendrochronology will improve both nationally and internationally and new research directions will be stimulated.
The technical description of the purpose and functionality of the DCCD is given the separate Requirements Document (appendix 4), developed by company Ivo Zandhuis Onderzoek & Advies voor digitale ontsluiting van culturele informatie (Haarlem, NL) in collaboration with DANS and RACM. The requirements can be achieved with standard proven technology. The RACM is experienced in coordinating the development of similar information systems (ARCHIS, eDNA, KICH; see below).
The DCCD combines a Trusted Digital Repository of data from laboratories in the Low Countries with linked archives stored separately. In the facility existing data formats are used and converted to a data model for storage. An XML-scheme enables durable storage. This scheme can be used to exchange data and metadata between information systems. A user interface enables both the authors and users of the data to query the archive. The DCCD contains modules for geographical, chronological and object oriented queries, coordinate translation (national and international NEN-norm coordinates), data conversion (for uploading and downloading data) and educational purposes. The descriptive metadata are visible to all who enter the website. Levels of user access to the underlying measurement series and chronologies and their dendrochronological interpretations are managed by the suppliers (owners) of these data. The DCCD provides links to existing archives of natural and cultural sub-soil data (Utrecht University; Laaglandgenese (LLG) Database; LLGDatabase/database; TNO (DINOshop: borehole and other sub-soil data; nl/dinoLks/DINOLoket.jsp); RACM (national registration system of archaeological finds ARCHIS), and other digital archives and environments (eDNA, KICH, At any time links to new archives can be created and new content can be added. An international network (data owners, users, advisory board) will meet at regular times to evaluate the efficiency of the archive and to propose adaptations, which will be made operational by RACM.
Table 1 Tree-ring measurement series in the DCCD facility (average chronologies are excluded (approx. 2,500))
Archive / # Digital series (approx.) / Data format (see Requirements Document (appendix 4), appendix B) / # Paper series / # Wood elements(approx.) / Tree Species / # Projects/ objects (approx) / Detail of metadata
Brongers/former ROB, RACM (digital data managed by RING) / 2,000 / Catras, Tucson / 300 (graphs) / 1,000 / Oak / 200 / Variable, no coordinates
Jansma/IPP-UvA (data managed by RING) / 1,600 / Catras, Tucson / None / 1,300 / Oak (99%), ash / 180 / Variable, no coordinates
RING Foundation / 13,000 / Heidelberg, PAST, Tucson, Catras / None / 7,500 / Oak (98%), ash, elm, beech, pine, larch, spruce / 1,500 / Coordinates are in part not present
De Vries/ former RDMZ, RACM / None / None / 400 (numbers on paper) / 400 / Oak / 100 / No coordinates
BAAC bv / 1,900 / Heidelberg / 350 (numbers on paper) / 1,600 / Oak / 500 / Variable
Dendrolab NL / 450 / Heidelberg / None / 400 / Oak / 30 / No coordinates
WageningenUniversity / 650 / Heidelberg / None / 650 / Oak, beech, pine / 30 / Good
Haneca, University of Gent(B) / 1,250 / PAST / None / 1,250 / Oak / 60 / Variable
University of Liege(B) / 5,000 / CNRS / None / 5,000 / Oak / 800 / Good
Royal Institute of Cultural Heritage (B) / 500 / Various / None / 500 / Oak / 100 / Variable
Pressler & Parnter (BRD) / 2,500 / Heidelberg / None / 2,500 / Oak / 400 / Good
CRNS/Louvre (FR) / 200 / CNRS / 100 / Oak / 20 / Good
Total / Ca. 29,000 / Ca. 1,000 / Ca. 22000 / Mainly oak / Ca. 4000 / Variable
There are some clear choices underlying the proposed infrastructure and its content. The first choice is that the DCCD should be a Trusted Digital Repository for data of laboratories active in the Netherlands. This choice was made in consultancy with DANS and is based on the fact that no digital archiving standard or policy regarding the safeguarding of cultural data has been developed in Dutch (and international) dendrochronology as yet. Shaping the DCCD into a Trusted Digital Repository fulfils the need for a responsible data management and means that digital standards will be developed. The second choice is that data management in the DCCD is done locally by the authors of the data. The reason is that central data management would involve a large capacity investment of the hosting organization, which is economically less attractive than decentralised management. The third choice is that participating dendrochronologists should be able to determine levels of access to their measurement series, chronologies and interpretations. This is based on the commercial value of dendrochronological data and the fierce competition in commercial dating research. The fourth choice is that the DCCD should contain data derived from cultural-historical as well as natural contexts. The reason is that the determination of the origin of timber is impossible without local chronologies from trees found in situ (natural vegetation remains) and studies ofhuman dealings with, and impacts on,the natural environment (e.g., forest exploitation) specifically require this type of data.